BYU-I Campus Police serve and protect
- posted: 19 June 2007
- scrollspecial@byui.edu
Last year, 30 laptop computers were stolen from student apartment complexes at BYU-Idaho. The University Police Department deals with these problems as well as striving to prevent crime on campus.
Officers are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Many of the officers have their advanced training certificates; the highest possible training in the state of Idaho.
The BYU-I emergency dispatch responded to 4000 calls last year, an average of 10 per day. Most calls are normal domestic incidents, such as medical responses, accidents, parking and crime prevention.
The dispatch also receives many calls from students who lock their keys in their car or report false fire alarms. Captain Garth Gunderson of the University Police Department provides a bit of advice for students to help out the department: “Take care of yourselves.”
Captain Gunderson heads the University Police Department. In the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech, many universities are rethinking their security protocol and strategy. BYU-I is no different.
“University administrators have felt a need to increase police presence, emergency planning, and emergency communication systems. We’ve taken a closer look at our emergency communication systems,” Gunderson said.
Another responsibility of the university police department is the protection of the school’s assets. The department employs several students who work security at the library and make sure the buildings on campus are secured each night.
Gunderson expressed his appreciation to the department’s three sergeants who teach and train these students to help keep our campus safe and secure. Captain Gunderson also said that students need to do a better job of protecting their personal assets.
“If you don’t want to be a victim, lock your doors,” Gunderson said. 
